There are a number of devices which are known in the art that may be used after a mastectomy.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,833, to Koneke, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a breast prosthesis which comprises a semi-rigid flat bottom portion with a first inner covering portion extending over the bottom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,440, to Cohen, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a breast prosthesis comprising inner and outer flexible containers, each having a self-sealing valve associated therewith. The valves are arranged in such a fashion that each container can be separately filled with fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,080,057, to Kronowitz, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a prosthesis that may be inserted into a breast and may be inflated to preserve the shape of the breast skin envelope. The prosthesis may include a base, and a balloon coupled to the base, where the balloon may be inflated to preserve the shape of the breast skin envelope.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,394,118, to Jones, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a tissue expansion system, comprising an implantable tissue expander comprising an expandable chamber completely surrounding a compressed gas reservoir, wherein the expandable chamber is adapted to be a non-elastic chamber with a pre-formed breast shape.
U.S. Patent Application 2005/0284215, to Falsetti, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes apparatus for the preoperative estimation of breast implant volume, in which a volume of air, water, or other substance is used to inflate one or more bladders located within the cups of a brassiere-like garment.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that, to the extent that any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.